山道期刊

Ethics and the Issue of Pentateuchal Slave Laws

WONG Fook Kong

Slave laws are found in the Old Testament and admonitions are given to slaves in the New Testament. These teachings and laws do not speak against the institution of slavery directly nor do they call for its abolition. What they do teach is that God wants slaves to be protected or, even better, freed. They also teach his people to treat each other with dignity and to redeem those who have fallen into slavery. Thus these laws and teachings seek to undermine the institution of slavery by building an anti-slavery mindset into God’s people. However, in this sinful and imperfect world, there will be people falling into virtual or literal slavery and will be unable to escape their servitude. For these people, God encourages them to live out their faith in servitude and remember that they are free in Christ even though, for a time, they are subjected to earthly masters.

Family Affairs and Power Struggle in the Succession Story of David —A Narrative Ethical Interpretation

Jonathan TSOI

How to distill clear ethical teachings from the Old Testament has always been a challenge to exegetes. The essay first defines succession narrative as a literary device used to answer the question posed by Bashebath: “Who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” (1 Kings 1:20). The narrative starts with the downturn of David’s life, i.e., with the David-Bashebath affair. It continues with a series of family tragedies: the Amnon-Tamar incest, the murder of Amnon by Absalom, usurpation of the throne by Absalom, and finally the contest for the throne between Adonijah and Solomon. The first two family affairs are the turning points in the life of David, and greatly influence later developments in the succession narrative. The essay aims to interpret these two stories from a narrative, ethical point of view.

These stories tell us something important about the nature of Old Testament ethics. First, there is no such thing as abstract ethical dogma that one can appropriate as universal principle to solve problems in daily life. Whether a character is ethical or not has to be inferred from the context and interpreted accordingly. For instance, both in the Abigail story and the Bashebath affair David plunders other’s wives. In the first story David’s action is acquiesced, while in the second one the sophisticated scheme on Uriah by the same protagonist is condemned. Moreover, both stories illustrate a basic technique of Old Testament narratives in which the narrator often recedes to the background and invite readers to pass their own judgments upon the characters. In the Bashebath affair the narrator utilizes a contrast technique to show the sinister side of the apparently benevolent David. The narrator seldom judges the protagonist. Yet between the lines the readers are given many clues to accomplish the job. Lastly, when two similar stories are placed consecutively they are meant to be compared and interpreted together. The second story often becomes the direct consequence of the first one. Thus, the Amnon-Tamar incest story, no matter how unrelated it may seem, is a result of the David-Bashebath affair. They are followed by a series of power struggle stories involving complicated threads of family relationship and affairs. We believe that the treatment of ethical problems in the Old Testament narratives concurs with the current trend of narrative ethics. These Bible stories are loved by readers of different generations. This is because they are more realistic than dos and don’ts commandments.

Old Testament and Revenge: Viewed from the Book of Esther

Timothy S. J. WU

The LXX and Jewish tradition added the name of God and attributed “hidden” spirituality to Esther and Mordecai in the book of Esther so that the book, where the name YHWH is absent, can be included in the Old Testament canon. However, from the perspective of textual criticism, the MT version of the book of Esther is the original version and any “addition” is superfluous. These types of cover-ups not only do not offer satisfactory explanations for the carnage committed by the Jews, they expose the weaknesses of the characters in the drama — Esther and Mordecai used ethically questionable means to consolidate their positions in a Gentile society. The reason the book of Esther could be part of the canon is not that it shows “humans are loveable” but that “God is love.” From the perspective of the Old Testament Historical books, taken as a whole, and biblical theology, the transformation of the “victims” into “avengers” recorded in the ninth chapter of the book does not constitute a holy war, much less a model of Old Testament ethics. The Biblical view on revenge is consistent; it is not “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” but “it is mine to avenge; I will repay.” The contribution of this book to Old Testament ethics is that the more humans act, the more God is hidden!

God, Job and Friends: Ethics of Suffering

Emmanuel HUNG

Since God has sovereignty, He can cause human, even the innocent, to suffer. The question is not whether God should or should not do so, but whether God maintains the rights of the sufferers when He inflicts them with suffering. In the example of Job, we see that God inflicts the sufferer ethically and maintains the rights of Job. God admits that He caused Job to suffer (Job 2:3), thus taking responsibility for the suffering of Job the innocent. That Job eventually gains twofold of what he lost also shows that God fulfills His responsibility. Moreover, God allows Job the sufferer to complain because Job has rights to do so. God did not rebuke Job later because of his complaints but because he accused God of being unrighteous (Job 40:8). In other words, Job used the wrong words to complain (Job 38:2).

Job’s friends also rebuke Job, but the arguments they used are wrongheaded. They wrongly use God’s sovereignty to suppress Job, to stop him from complaining. In doing so, they present a gloomy portrait of God. Second, they do not allow their concept of ethics to accommodate mystery, such as, God is not bound by theodicy. Because their theology is banal, they eventaully accuse Job of being a sinner. They do Job wrong. Third, they do not realize that they do not understand God’s creation. Their arguments rest on a shaky ground. The reality of creation is that God has designed chaos in it. Chaos is an orderly disorder and it brings suffering. The food chain, natural disasters, accidents and birth defects speak volume of the God-designed chaos. We have to come to terms with chaos before we can have a realistic concept on the ethics of suffering.

The implication we can draw from the above discussions is that sufferers can complain to God because the ethical God gives them the rights to do so. What we need to be careful about is that we cannot accuse God of being unrighteous. Second, we have to try our best to understand God’s creation and the chaos in it. A good place to start is the Wisdom Books of the Old Testament. Lastly, we have to accept that we will not fully understand the meaning of suffering in this world, but we have to trust that God is good. If we feel that we need evidence to trust God, then the cross is that evidence.

Old Testament Ethics and Public Discourse: On the Public-ness of Ethical Discourse and the Ethics in Public Discourse of the Bible

Philip CHIA

The essay begins by probing into the possibility of public ethics. It attempts to engage the relational situation of Old Testament ethics as part of biblical ethics, on the one hand, and public discourse as the sphere of discourse for the living reality of the Bible believing people of God, on the other hand. The relationship between public and private in terms of religion in public life for God’s people comes to the forefront as questions concerning the identity of the readers or adherers of Old Testament ethics are being raised. The Bible, as a legacy of human wisdom within a civilization, provides resources for humanity in times of trials and trouble, as when faced with moment of life crisis or century crossroad. These prompt the demand for its participation and contribution in public discourses on ethical issues of common concern for humanity. Proposing five fundamental thematic concepts (creation, law, national foundation, justice/righteousness, and wisdom) for reflection on Old Testament ethics, the study concludes with the full understanding that, being in its infant stage, Old Testament ethics demands a thorough understanding of creation theology, beginning with Genesis, as the foundation for theistic discourse on public ethics. This study highlights the proposition that “relationship” is central to Old Testament ethics; relationships between the creator, humankind and the world they live. The differences in understanding their relationship, as reflected in different cultural heritage, represent the richness and shortcoming of their respective public cultural discourses.

The Development of Wolfhart Pannenberg’s Theological Anthropology: A Model of Theological Construction in Interdisciplinary Method

LEI Tin Kwan

This paper aims to study the development of Wolfhart Pannenberg’s theological anthropology by addressing and clarifying two questions one may face when trying to understand the development of his theological anthropology. (1) It is thought that there was a shift in Pannenberg’s theological anthropology in terms of methodology and content from Anthropology in Theological Perspective to the second volume of his Systematic Theology. (2) Scholars have often based their study of Pannenberg’s theological anthropology on his Anthropology in Theological Perspective or the earlier published What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective. However, in view of (1), should we not approach Pannenberg’s theological anthropology—such as its starting point and foundation—differently? After an investigation of how he understands the work of theology and the development of his theological anthropology, this paper concludes that there was no shift in Pannenberg’s theological anthropology from Anthropology in Theological Perspective to the second volume of his Systematic Theology. In addition, in view of our understanding of Pannenberg’s theological anthropology, it is clearly more appropriate to use the relevant parts of the latter work as a starting point and basis for the study of his theological anthropology. Finally, this paper shows that Pannenberg has used a theologically grounded interdisciplinary method to construct his theological anthropology and even his entire theological system.

Memory • Text • Praxis: The Theology of Hope of Jürgen Moltmann

Andres S. TANG

This paper tries to re-construct the understanding of the relationship among memory, Scriptural text and praxis in the theology of Jürgen Moltmann, especially focusing on his Theology of Hope. The central concept of Molmann’s Theology of Hope is divine promise pointing to the future, which is different from the present. Hope is raised from this future. However, this future is recognized through the remembering of the Scriptural text which is a record of the memory of the divine promise and the promise history which, in turn, is created and shaped by the divine promise. It is through this memory that the reality is disclosed as dynamic rather than static since a different future is ahead for the present to move toward. Against this future people will be involved in the praxis of transforming the present reality corresponding to this future. In this sense we can say that for Moltmann, the praxis of the Christian faith is possible under the condition of taking the Scriptural text as the mediator for people looking backward and forward.